Sophocles wrote the book Oedipus the King. This tragedy tells the story of how a man gets confused with his fate and his doings. Oedipus finds out that King Laius of Thebes is killed. In the end, he tragically learns who kills him. The characters that Sophocles created have been great in expressing their feelings without trying to hide them. The main character of the story, who the book is named after, is Oedipus. He is the King of Thebes. When he was young, he saved Thebes from the Sphinx. The Oracle that said he would marry his mother and kill his father. Creon is the brother-in-law of Oedipus. He is accused by Oedipus of killing Laius, and goes to seek Apollo’s advice in saving Thebes from a plague. The blind prophet is Tiresias. He counsels Oedipus, but he doesn’t listen to Tiresias, so Oedipus ends up accusing him of killing Laius also. Jocasta is Oedipus’ wife; therefore she is the Queen of Thebes. She was married to Laius, but when Oedipus saved Thebes from the Sphinx, she married Oedipus.

The messenger from Corinth brings Oedipus news of the royal family. The Shepherd was the only living person at the time that had seen the murder of Laius, so he had to tell Oedipus what he had seen on that day. Another messenger announced that the Oracle’s prophecy was true, and also announced the death of Jocasta. The same messenger gave Oedipus to the royal couple when a shepherd offered him an abandoned baby from the house of Laius. Antigone and Ismene are the daughters of Oedipus. The chorus is the narrator and townspeople who say what is going on in their lives and how they feel about it. I did like Oedipus the King, because it expresses the problems of another man who is stubborn, like many people. My favorite part is when Tiresias gives all of the reasons to Oedipus why he didn’t kill Laius. His reasons sound philosophical. My least favorite part is when Jocasta hangs herself, because it seems as though she was afraid to live with the Oracle being right and she being wrong. If I could, I would change when Oedipus blinds himself. It makes sense of why he does it: to punish himself, but he shouldn’t punish himself because of fate. I would recommend this book to people who have stress in their lives, to show them how relaxing reading is, but how they compare to the problems of Oedipus.